Jan Matthys

Biography

Jan Matthys is a Belgian film and television director.

Jan started his career directing non-fiction such as Zalm voor Corleone and De Bende van Wim. However he soon discovered that his heart was with fiction. He directed some episodes of series such as Aspe and Kinderen van Dewindt, but his real break through was in 2008 with Katarakt. In 2009 the success repeated itself with The Emperor of Taste, that was nominated and awarded at several international festivals and won 3 FIPA d'OR awards for best fiction, best actress and best music score. Read more... few episodes of the internationally acclaimed series Code 37. A year later he surprised everyone with the series Quiz Me Quick. The series was awarded with 2 Rockie Awards for Best Sitcom and Best Entertainment at the BANFF World Media Festival in Canada. It was also nominated for the Prix Europa.

In January 2014 the latest series by Jan Matthys started airing, In Flanders Fields. In Flanders Fields is the most expensive Belgian series ever made.

For his oeuvre until now, and more specifically his directing of In Flanders Field, Jan Matthys received the EuroFipa d'Honneur at the 2014 Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels in Biarritz.

One of Jan Matthys' trademarks is that he works with a very loyal and professional crew, combined with young talent. His DOP Stijn Van der Veken was recently invited, as first Belgian ever, to join the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). But Jan also has a keen eye for young acting talent such as Matthias Schoenaerts and Marieke Dilles in The Emperor of Taste, Wietse Tanghe in Quick Me Quick and Mathieu Sys and Lize Feryn in In Flanders Fields.

After years of television work Jan Matthys is working on his first feature film.